


Five Words or Less

by NinesByDawn



Series: Nest Building [10]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-23 12:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23378335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinesByDawn/pseuds/NinesByDawn
Summary: The two birds play a game to describe their teammates and each other in as few words as possible.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Raven, Robin/Raven, Robrae
Series: Nest Building [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655041
Comments: 1
Kudos: 45





	Five Words or Less

“Let’s play a game.”

“Game?”

“Not a video game, don’t worry,” Robin laughed. “More like a…fun little game. To pass the time.”

“What does this game entail?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Cards? Boards?”

“Just this,” he replied, pointing to his temple. “A conversational game.”

“Like…truth or dare?”

“I was thinking more like this. Let’s describe our relationship with everyone else. Including ourselves. Three words or less. Whoever has the least total amount of words at the end wins.”

“Three’s not a lot,” she mused, pursing her lips. “Especially when thinking about _some_ people.”

“Five, then,” he amended. “Five words or less. A little more room, but it’s supposed to be challenging.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Let’s start, then. Oh, and for us, we can’t use the words ‘love’, ‘lover’, ‘boyfriend’, or ‘girlfriend’. To make it more interesting.”

“You go first? I go first?” she questioned.

“I can name everyone, then you answer. Then you do the same for me,” he responded. She nodded in acknowledgement.

“Get on with it, then.”

“Garfield. AKA Beast Boy,” he said with a smirk. “Oh, and you can’t use the words ‘immature’, ‘annoying’, or ‘complicated’”. She frowned.

“This isn’t fair. You’re making up rules as you go,” she humphed, folding her arms.

“You can do it too. I never said you couldn’t.”

“Fine.” She sighed, pondering. “I already know I’m gonna use all five words. This was your plan, wasn’t it?” He didn’t respond and tried to maintain a straight face, but she could already tell.

“Okay,” she said, after thinking for a few more moments. “Like a little kid, but…no, that’s already five.” She sighed again. “Let me start over.”

“Take your time,” he said, nodding. She gazed off into the distance for another minute.

“Usually intolerable kid, sometimes considerate,” Raven uttered at last.

“That’s it?” Robin chuckled. “Very underwhelming.”

“Well, you didn’t let me use any of the words that I normally call him,” she snapped. “It’s still the truth. Even if it is a little bastardized by the five word limit.”

“Do you think he’s funny?”

“I’m past people asking me this, Boy Blunder. Yes. Very rarely. And the qualification is I usually think it’s funny because it’s so stupid you can’t help but be amused by it.”

“Just checking,” he teased. “Let’s move on, then. Cyborg.”

“This one’s much easier,” she remarked. “Big bro.”

“He does do a good job looking out for you.”

“It’s mutual. I don’t know how to describe it, but we just click.” The empath gave a small smile.

“I never would’ve imagined you getting interested in car mechanics or cooking.”

“There’s a lot of subtle similarities in the things we like.”

“Starfire. And you’ve used seven words so far,” he reminded her.

“Hmm…” she mused again. “Yin and yang.”

“Interesting. Why for you two specifically?”

“We’re the most similar, I feel like, in terms of who we are. Girls, powers, all that. It’s a good balance. Necessary. She helps me lighten up. And I keep her grounded.”

“Last one. Dick Grayson,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Asshole,” she deadpanned. He frowned. “Well, only sometimes,” she amended, giving him a light punch in the arm.

“That’s four words,” he said, unamused.

“Kidding, birdbrain,” Raven teased. “Come on, you know better.” 

“Now that I think about it, you also can’t use ‘birdbrain’ or ‘Boy Blunder’,” Robin told her. He relaxed again and waited for her answer. Raven’s eyes looked upwards in thought as silence filled the space between them again.

“Best friend,” she said sweetly.

“Friendzoned,” he said in mock horror, clutching his heart for additional dramatic effect. “I knew it.” She rolled her eyes.

“Alright, we’re even in jokes that the other didn’t find funny. It’s your turn now.”

“Ready when you are. You finished with 12, by the way.”

“Starfire,” she started. “And you can’t use ‘ex’, ‘good friend’ or some variation thereof, or ‘alien’.”

“I knew this was coming,” he groaned. “Alright, give me a minute.” He pondered hard, realizing just how difficult the game actually was when it was the right person who was the subject. Raven stared at him, but her eyes were slightly unfocused, and she could have been mistaken for staring past him. He ran through various word combos in his mind, sometimes subtly shaking his head when he ruled one out.

“Alright,” he said, exhaling. “This is tough. I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable…”

“I’ll be fine.” Raven put her hand on top of his, reassuring him. “I understand your relationship with her. I helped you both through the rough times, remember?”

“Won’t ever forget that,” he murmured.

“No hard feelings,” she told him. “The past is what it is. We’ve had discussions about you, if that helps you feel better.”

“You…have?”

“Of course,” she said with a wink. “But don’t even think about asking what about, because I won’t tell you. Women’s secrets.”

“Figures.” He thought for another few moments, then exhaled again. “Okay. How about…sometimes complicated, but always special.”

“I forgot to disallow ‘complicated’,” Raven said with a sullen face.

“Can’t change the rules now,” he replied, grinning. She shook her head.

“Oh well.”

“I thought I knew what I wanted back then,” he reflected. “I kind of mistook close friendship for…something more.”

“Did you learn something from the experience?”

“I suppose so,” Robin thought aloud. “I learned more about how to be the best person I can be in a relationship. For myself and for the other person. But more importantly, I think Star and I understand each other even more now.”

“Then it was a good experience all in all, Dick,” Raven concluded. “Everything happens for a reason.”

“You believe that?”

“I do,” she said simply. “Moving on now. Beast Boy. Or, _Gar_ -field.”

“He doesn’t get on my nerves as much as yours,” he chuckled. “Let’s see…let’s go with doglike companion.”

“Doglike?” she quipped, raising an eyebrow. “A little demeaning, don’t you think? Not that _I_ mind, of course.”

“He’s very innocent and naïve about the world,” he laughed. “Like how he kept calling me ‘sir’ when we first met. But he’s got that dog in him too, the part that won’t give up and fights for what he believes in.”

“Fascinating. How about Cyborg?”

“Two alpha males.”

“You two did butt heads quite a lot back in the day.”

“We have different leadership styles,” he explained. “And we both _want_ to lead. But at the end of the day, we have the same goal. And I think we have a strong respect for each other, and we both know that, despite all the shit we still give each other.”

“Plus you’re still friends anyways,” she reminded him. “Even if you argue now you can’t stay mad at each other forever.”

“Of course.”

“Last one. Me. Challenging for you?”

“Absolutely not,” Robin refuted.

“Oh? What words do you have in mind, then?”

“Soulmate,” he said softly, then took her hand and rubbed her palm gently with his fingers. The faintest tinge of red appeared on her cheeks, before it faded just as quick. Raven’s soft smile matched his, and they shared a quick kiss before he let go of her hand.

“I count 12 words. We tied,” Raven commented.

“Nope. I had 11. I win,” Robin shot down. The empath’s eyes narrowed.

“Five from Starfire. Two from Beast Boy. Three from Cyborg. Two from me.”

“Soulmate is one word, Rae-Rae,” he laughed.

“It is not,” she denied. “Soul. Mate. _Soul. Mate._ ”

“Soulmate,” he said quickly, emphasizing the run-on between the syllables. “One word. Soulmate.”

“Two words. Each word is a word in itself. How can it be one word?”

“It’s spelled correctly as one word.”

“Fine. Let’s say it can be both,” she conceded. “It’s still a wash, since we can’t agree on how it’s spelled.”

“It’s one word,” Robin insisted. Raven rolled her eyes.

“Do you _always_ have to win everything?”

“What kind of question is that? _Of course._ ”

“Whatever. You know what’s definitely one word, though?”

“What?”

“Asshole,” she said, pinching his cheek. He smirked.

“Look who’s being a sore loser now.”


End file.
